General Inspectorate of Aviation (Romania)

General Inspectorate of Aviation
Inspectoratul General de Aviație al Ministerului Afacerilor Interne
Coat of arms of the Inspectorate
Active20 December 1948-present
CountryRomania
Part ofMinistry of Internal Affairs
HQAurel Vlaicu International Airport
EquipmentEC-135 / S-70M / PA-42 / Cessna Citation V / Learjet 75
Websitehttps://aviatie.mai.gov.ro/
Commanders
General InspectorGeneral de flotilă aeriană Cătălin-Paul Dache

The General Inspectorate of Aviation (Romanian: Inspectoratul General de Aviație - IGAv) (formerly Special Aviation Unit - Unitatea Specială de Aviație) is the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs's air component. The unit was initially established in 1948, but restructured in 1978. It has its overall headquarters at Aurel Vlaicu International Airport and operates five territorial flights in Bucharest, Caransebeș, Cluj-Napoca, Iași and Tulcea. The current General Inspector is General de flotilă aeriană Cătălin-Paul Dache.

History

Following the Second World War, it was decided to form an aviation structure that can serve the civil society. In this sense, the Air Transport Flotilla was established on 20 December 1948 at the Dudești-Cioplea airfield. Between 1949 and 1960, the unit was based on the Popești-Leordeni aerodrome, then it was moved to the Otopeni airport until 1973. From 1979 on, it is located at the Aurel Vlaicu International Airport.[1]

On 1 May 2008, the unit was reorganized by establishing the Aviation Inspectorate and four special aviation units subordinate to it located in Bucharest, Cluj Napoca, Iași, and Tulcea. Starting from 15 May the same year, the unit became operational.[1]

Missions

Structure and equipment

Besides the five Special Aviation units (located in Bucharest, Caransebeș, Cluj-Napoca, Iași and Tulcea), the Inspectorate also has a Training and Development Detachment located in Bucharest (Detașamentul de Instruire și Perfecționare București), and an Aeromedical Detachment (Detașamentul Aeromedical).[2][3]

Aeromedical Detachment

The Aeromedical Detachment, is a structure subordinated to the General Inspectorate of Aviation tasked with humanitarian life-saving missions. It performs flight missions as the air operator of the SMURD.[3]

The SMURD HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical System) bases are led by commanders appointed by the General Inspector of the General Aviation Inspectorate, while the personnel who perform the on-call service for the intervention are designated by the cooperating structures.[3]

Equipment

Over the course of its history, the aviation structure operated various types of aircraft: Ju 52, Lockheed 10, Fiesler Storch, Fleet 10, Po-2, Klemm Kl 25, Klemm Kl 35, Heinkel He 111, Bücker Jungmeister, Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun, RWD 8, RWD 13, RWD-14, Aero L-60 Brigadýr, Aero 45, Li-2, An-2, and BN-2.[1] Currently, there are 2 types of helicopters and four airplanes in service:[4]

Type Notes
Helicopters
Eurocopter EC135 21 in service; used by IGAv; also operated for SMURD[5]
S-70M Black Hawk 8 in service; also operated for SMURD[6][7][8]
Airplanes
Piper PA-42 Cheyenne One operated for SMURD
Cessna Citation V One operated for SMURD
Learjet 75 Two operated for SMURD[9]

In 2021, seven S-70M Black Hawk built by PZL Mielec were purchased.[10] A total of 12 Black Hawks desired.[11] Initially planned to be retired from service in 2029,[12] the Mil Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters were retired earlier from service in 2022. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent international sanctions imposed on Russia, usual maintenance and overhaul arrangements for Russian-built helicopters became increasingly constrained. The helicopters had been in service for over three decades.[13][14] In addition, the only two IAR-316B light helicopters were also withdrawn from service in 2023 and 2024 respectively due to the expiry of its operational life and the limited number of airframes remaining in service.[15][16] First Black Hawk was delivered in November 2023, with the last being delivered in December.[17][7] In December 2025, the first Black Hawk funded through the RescEU program was delivered. The helicopter will also be used to intervene during major disasters in other European countries, at the request of the European Union.[8] On 26 January 2026, the Romanian government presented the list of projects proposed under the European Union’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) programme for Ministry of Internal Affairs and the other institutions in the area of national safety and security. According to the published proposal, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) included, under a component titled “Mass evacuation management”, the planned acquisition of seven medium-heavy multirole helicopters with a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 4.5–9.0 tonnes and five medium-light helicopters with an MTOW of 3.2–7.0 tonnes,[18][19] alongside two multi-role aircraft.[20] Currently, it is unknown exactly what type of helicopters or aircraft will be purchased.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Istoric". aviatie.mai.gov.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Detașamentul de Instruire și Perfecționare București". aviatie.mai.gov.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "Detașamentul Aeromedical". aviatie.mai.gov.ro (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 8 May 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Aeronave din dotare". aviatie.mai.gov.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Military Database". www.scramble.nl. Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  6. ^ Ciprian Iana (12 December 2023). "Al șaselea elicopter Black Hawk destinat intervențiilor în situații de urgență a ajuns în România". Libertatea (in Romanian).
  7. ^ a b "Echipamente noi pentru polițiști: Elicoptere, aparate drugtest și autospeciale cumpărate din fonduri europene". Euronews (in Romanian). 26 December 2023.
  8. ^ a b Florin Jipa (19 December 2025). "România a primit primul elicopter rescEU, un S-70 Black Hawk, finanțat integral de UE". monitorulapararii.ro (in Romanian).
  9. ^ "Cele două ambulanțe aeriene Learjet 75 au ajuns în România". Aviatie Magazin (in Romanian). 1 September 2023.
  10. ^ Adelin Petrișor (24 November 2023). "Primele patru elicoptere Black Hawk primite de România pentru intervenții în situații de urgență, gata să înceapă misiunile". TVR (in Romanian).
  11. ^ "Demonstrație a primului Black Hawk S-70M destinat României (Video). Elicopterul urmează să fie livrat MAI". Defense Romania (in Romanian). 8 September 2022.
  12. ^ "Wayback Machine" (PDF). sgglegis.gov.ro. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-07-06. Retrieved 2026-02-20. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  13. ^ Adelin Petrișor 🇷🇴 (2022-08-02). Black Hawk pentru Ministerul de Interne. Retrieved 2026-02-20 – via YouTube.
  14. ^ "Show Reports". www.scramble.nl. Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  15. ^ Dragomir, Sebastian (2024-01-18). "Elicopterul IGAV de la Caransebeș "a ieșit la pensie" » Radio România Reșița". Radio România Reșița (in Romanian). Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  16. ^ MS (2023-02-16). "IAR-316B ALOUTTE". Monetaria Statului (in Romanian). Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  17. ^ "Primul elicopter Black Hawk al SMURD a ajuns în România". Aviatia Magazin (in Romanian). 13 November 2023.
  18. ^ Vulcan, Dora (2026-01-26). "Proiecte de 1,3 miliarde de euro pentru securitate, ordine publică și siguranță națională prin programul SAFE". Europa Liberă România (in Romanian). Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  19. ^ 1/26/26 Conferință de presă. Retrieved 2026-02-20 – via www.youtube.com.
  20. ^ "OFICIAL: Pe ce va cheltui România 16,6 miliarde de euro din programul SAFE. Lista de achiziții militare pe care le va face Armata - VIDEO - HotNews.ro" (in Romanian). 2026-01-26. Retrieved 2026-02-20.
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